Cameron Parke is a husband and father of 4 children. A fifth generation Alberta rancher with over ten years of experience in oil and gas construction.As Alberta’s teachers strike amid stalled negotiations over class sizes, funding, and working conditions, parents must take a hard look at our public education system. Does it truly serve our children’s best interests — or does it expose the weaknesses of a centralized model dominated by a single teachers’ union? Are our schools opening minds — or merely filling them?More importantly: does government control over education shape our children’s worldviews in ways that conflict with parental values?Scripture assigns parents the primary responsibility for child-rearing, yet public schools, steered by bureaucrats, often promote ideologies rooted in secular humanism — functioning as a de facto church that worships human autonomy and progressive ideals. .BARBER: The digital ID is here.The question must be asked: if education rests in provincial hands, do we truly have separation of church and state — or are we funding a secular sermon preached from the teacher’s desk?Historical Roots of Separation of Church and StateThe concept of separation of church and state runs deep, shaped by conflict, reform, and bloodshed. Its biblical foundation distinguishes spiritual from secular authority in Matthew 22:21, where it says “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”.In Romans 13:1–7, Paul affirms the state’s God-ordained role in maintaining order — distinct from the church’s spiritual mission.In John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus said, underscoring the independence of spiritual authority.These principles fueled the Reformation, when Martin Luther’s “two kingdoms” doctrine began dismantling the church’s grip on state power. The Enlightenment later expanded this through thinkers like John Locke, whose writings on tolerance shaped the First Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)..KEENEY: Charlie Kirk and the fragility of civic peace.Other pivotal voices included Roger Williams, who envisioned a “wall of separation” to protect both faith and freedom. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who championed religious liberty, and Abraham Kuyper, whose “sphere sovereignty” held that God grants distinct authority to family, church, and state — none to overstep the others.The Pitfalls of State-Run EducationGovernment-controlled education often prioritizes political agendas and ideologies over the moral and intellectual development of children. Douglas Wilson, a leading advocate for classical Christian education, calls public schools “temples of statism,” where secular dogmas replace biblical truths about creation, gender, and morality (Genesis 1:27; Exodus 20:3)..Far from neutral, these schools advance a secular humanist creed that crowns humanity (as expressed through the state) — not God — as the final authority. As Wilson argues, education is inherently religious, shaping hearts and minds toward someone’s vision of truth. Entrusting this to the state inevitably results in state-imposed indoctrination, rather than moral or intellectual freedom.In Canada, Pierre Trudeau’s 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms — particularly Sections 2(a), 7, and 15 — enshrined the principle of “religious neutrality” in education. But this so-called neutrality has become a Trojan horse, ushering in secular humanism disguised as impartiality.OLDCORN: Alberta’s teachers’ union abandons students for politics.Historically, education was the duty of families — from biblical patriarchs through medieval Europe. The 19th-century rise of compulsory schooling, modelled on Prussia’s system, transferred that authority from parents to the state, diminishing parental rights and turning mothers and fathers into mere spectators in their children’s moral development.Evidence of Indoctrination and Systemic FlawsPublic education in Alberta increasingly reflects a secular orthodoxy that contradicts biblical teaching.In science classes, evolution, which is now facing scrutiny within the scientific community regarding its validity, is taught as fact, excluding other models such as the fine-tuned universe and intelligent design. .“Men became scientific because they expected law in Nature; and they expected law in Nature because they believed in a Lawgiver,” said CS Lewis.In cosmology, The Big Bang is presented as the ultimate origin, without reference to a divine creation. In the health curricula, the biblical doctrine of male and female and family are replaced with studies on sexual orientation and gender identity, contrary to that teaching (Genesis 1:27)..HILTON-O’BRIEN: Big money in little politics.In social studies, critical race theory and situational ethics overshadow faith-based moral reasoning rooted in objective truth that some beliefs are right for all people, all places, and all time.In school policy, prayer and expressions of Christian faith are banned under the guise of “neutrality,” while other forms of faith and prayer are promoted in the name of inclusion..Recent incidents illustrate how politicized the classroom has become. Edmonton teachers leading chants of “Trans Rights Are Human Rights” is activism, not education. Meanwhile, the UCP’s move to remove pornography from school libraries provoked outrage from teachers and bureaucrats — proof of a deep cultural divide.Parents of faith now fund a system that often contradicts their conscience. Public school students receive roughly $13,000–$14,000 per year in funding, while homeschoolers receive only $1,837. A stark reflection of systemic bias against parental autonomy. Are the concerns over the past residential school system so much different than what is happening today? Do we have compulsory state-mandated education? Do we still hear of rare reports of teacher pedophile occurrences? Do we have controversial curriculum with the intent of enforcing an established worldview? Perhaps one difference today is that we have a choice of education, but that choice is heavily dictated through the public purse towards only one realistic option for most parents, which is the “free option.” .BERNARDO: Canada's firearms fiasco: Political and bureaucratic blinders vs truth.Reclaiming Parental AuthorityThe push for true education reform in Alberta hinges on reclaiming parental authority and dismantling the state’s overwhelming dominance. Abraham Kuyper’s sphere sovereignty underscores that church, state, and family are distinct institutions under God’s ultimate authority; yet suppressing Christian values in the name of neutrality merely replaces one belief system with another. As Michael Wagner argues in The Anglosphere’s Broken Covenant, nations once covenanted to uphold righteous governance, a principle echoed in Proverbs 16:12 that “righteousness establishes a throne.” .Martin Luther’s Reformation freed the state from church control, but today, the state has usurped the family’s role in shaping the next generation. Separation of church and state demands restoring education to parents. This means deconstructing our current education funding model. It means no more government-run schools. It means giving parents ultimate freedom to choose an education model for their children that works best for them, whether that is a charter school, homeschool, a cooperative model, or some new innovative approach. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of centralized education, sparking a revival of family-led learning, with homeschooling proving its worth through students who often excel academically, demonstrate strong family bonds, embody independence, and civic virtue. As Charlie Kirk aptly noted, “My money is on homeschooled kids — they’re going to be the ones running society.” .OLDCORN: Eby can’t veto a nation-building pipeline.Alberta can lead this renewal by adopting a hands-off approach, allowing parents to nurture their children in truth, virtue, and faith. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” says Proverbs 22:6. Only then will we usher in the next generation of educated children in a future that serves the family rather than state ideology. Cameron Parke is a husband and father of 4 children. A fifth generation Alberta rancher with over ten years of experience in oil and gas construction.
